Discount electronics store opens in downtown Loveland

The Open Box sells products for 20-80 percent off retail prices

By Craig Young Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
11/07/2013 08:00:00 AM MST

Cory Pitmon, owner of The Open Box discount electronics store, stands in his new shop at 526 N. Cleveland Ave., Loveland, on Wednesday, Nov. 6, his third day in business. Behind him, customers Greg Harshbarger, right, and Jacob Fields check out the merchandise.
(
Craig Young
)

A Loveland native has moved his business and his family back to town, opening a discount consumer electronics store downtown.

Cory Pitmon opened The Open Box at 526 N. Cleveland Ave. on Monday, Nov. 4, in the former Wool Basket space.

The store sells "open box" products - items that were returned by consumers, pulled from retailers' shelves when newer models came in or cleared out of warehouses.

Pitmon, who recently moved from Colorado Springs, said he has been selling products online for about two years and decided to add a storefront.

The downtown shop has a 600-square-foot showroom and about 1,800 square feet of storage in the basement, he said.

"For us to compete online, we have to be the lowest price on eBay and Amazon," he said. The prices in the store are as low or lower than online, he said.

Pitmon, a 1999 Loveland High School graduate, said he and his wife, Jenny (Adams) Pitmon, moved back to Loveland to be closer to their parents - the grandparents of their two young children.

And he brought his two full-time employees with him from Colorado Springs, Jeff Gallagher and Jim Porter.

Pitmon said much of The Open Box's merchandise is still factory-sealed, and his staff inspects anything that has been opened or that has damaged packaging.

In his showroom, which he's in the process of filling, he has several TVs on display, including a 39-inch Toshiba LED model marked at $349. He looked up the TV on the Best Buy website, where it sells for $449. On Black Friday, Nov. 29, he'll sell it for $249, he said.

Another example is a 7-inch Lenovo IdeaTab tablet for $99, selling for $139 at Best Buy. He'll mark it down to $69 on Black Friday, he said.

Pitmon said he also can order specific items, such as small kitchen appliances, if he doesn't have them in stock.

The store is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to about 3 p.m. Saturdays.